I love this! The only thing I may try is when doing the backing board, I'd attach the pieces with enough double sided tape to trace an accurate line for the cut.
Thank you. I sell these in my retail store and get a lot of great comments on the purpleheart. People think that I painted or dyed the wood until I tell them this is its natural color. If you haven't already tried intarsia, you should look for an easy pattern and give it a try. I got hooked on it several years back, stopped doing it for a while, and recently renewed my interest in it. I am currently looking for a pattern I can use for an intro to intarsia video. but it may take a while before I can get to it as I am going into the busiest season of the year.
The purpleheart was close to a full inch thick, the maple was only 13/16. I wanted 1/2 inch thicknesses on both because that's what the plans called for. Maybe I shouldn't have been so literal, but if you resaw 13/16 material down the middle you will lose 1/8 to the saw kerf. That leaves you with two pieces that will be less than 3/8 if you have to take 1/32 off each side to smooth them out. I could have cut the maple at 5/8 and 3/16, but by the time I planed that piece it would be too thin to be of any use. Maybe next time I will plane the maple to 1/2 but resaw the purpleheart. I should be able to get one board at 1/2 inch and another about 1/4 thick if I do it that way. Does that make any sense?
This is the description of the magnifier I purchased on Amazon: 10X LED Magnifying Lamp with Clamp, KIRKAS 2,200 Lumens Dimmable Super Bright Daylight Magnifying Glass with Light, Adjustable Swivel Arm Lighted Magnifier lamp for Reading Repair Crafts- Black. That should give you enough information to find it. The light level is adjustable, and at the distance I am using it, I am using the light at a very low setting. It really comes in handy for close work on small pieces.
I didn't think rounding over the edges between the different colored sections of the butterfly's wings looked natural here so I didn't do it. I have other intasia pieces like a horse's or dog's head portrait where I do extensive roundovers.
You need a backer because just edge gluing the parts together would make for a very weak assembly. Yes, you can glue directly to a substrate. I usually glue the back of the piece to a substrate and add a little glue in between the pieces as well.
That's an interesting question, but I would NOT recommend trying it. Intarsia usually requires some very small pieces, and you would have to get your fingers dangerously close to the blade. The bandsaw is a great tool, but not an appropriate one for this use.
